What are people doing to save money in this insane economy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have a meal service they like? Blue apron has gotten so expensive.

All meal service plans are expensive. Roast a bunch of sweet potatoes or cook batch of rice. Get $3 bag salad at Lidl and add roasted chicken from Whole Foods. Buy them on Tuesday. Comes out to $1.10 per lb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would love to get ideas for what else we could be doing as everything just gets more and more unaffordable. I really didn’t used to think about it this much for the last two years have been brutal. I’ll start:

- Used to eat out twice a week, now we eat out twice a month (take out only). Cook 7 nights a week but meals have gotten less complicated because who can realistically cook that much?

- started buying frozen afterschool snacks (tater tots, chicken tenders) and don’t let the kids stop at Starbucks or Boba place or whatever more than 2-3x per month

- Decided to drive our car until the wheels fall off. New cars are insane. When did that happen?

- started buying all basics (socks, underwear, basic tees) on Amazon.

- only shop for clothes off season and on sale. Have bought some basics from Target and Uniqlo. Saw a fairly basic sweater at J.Crew for $350 and almost laughed out loud.

- only reading books from the library

- no more sporting events for entertainment (we used to enjoy basketball games)


I would not have considered us to be in a difficult financial situation even two years ago. Our jobs are thankfully stable. But neither of us got pay increases this year because of cost cutting. It just doesn’t feel sustainable.

We pretty much have always done these and we are UMC. I'm in a stable job that's in high demand. No change in our financial status now and still doing these things. Just because you have money doesn't mean you have to waste it. I will add my kids never go to Starbucks and we didn't do sporting events live. Always read books from the library because so unnecessary to buy books. Don't partake in fast fashion. My hybrid car is almost two decades old and still drives like new. Kids in public schools. We do take nice vacations but fly economy and look for deals on hotels. If you always live like this, you don't have to change based on the economy.

[Anonymous]

To eat homecooked meals every night, you don't have to cook 7 days/wk. Every time you cook, make enough for two dinners worth. That's 50% less cooking right there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To eat homecooked meals every night, you don't have to cook 7 days/wk. Every time you cook, make enough for two dinners worth. That's 50% less cooking right there.

+ 1

[Anonymous]

For sporting events check out local high school and college games!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For sporting events check out local high school and college games!

No thanks. Unless it’s my own kid playing, watching high school sports is excruciatingly boring

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For sporting events check out local high school and college games!

No thanks. Unless it’s my own kid playing, watching high school sports is excruciatingly boring

But they're pretty exciting to younger kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Threads like this are depressing to me. I'm going to be school poor post-divorce and nearly everything people are listing as things they are cutting...are things that I already do. Admittedly they got us to a great financial place before it literally became unsafe for me to stay married.

That’s because there are only so many things one can do to cut costs. You still gotta eat, even if someone switches from Harris Teeter to Aldi. We need a companion thread- ‘What are people doing to make more money in this economy’?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Threads like this are depressing to me. I'm going to be school poor post-divorce and nearly everything people are listing as things they are cutting...are things that I already do. Admittedly they got us to a great financial place before it literally became unsafe for me to stay married.

That’s because there are only so many things one can do to cut costs. You still gotta eat, even if someone switches from Harris Teeter to Aldi. We need a companion thread- ‘What are people doing to make more money in this economy’?

And of course, if you’re already shopping at Aldi, and not eating out, where do you go from there?

[Anonymous]

One car. Thankfully moved to walkable neighborhood just after pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Threads like this are depressing to me. I'm going to be school poor post-divorce and nearly everything people are listing as things they are cutting...are things that I already do. Admittedly they got us to a great financial place before it literally became unsafe for me to stay married.

That’s because there are only so many things one can do to cut costs. You still gotta eat, even if someone switches from Harris Teeter to Aldi. We need a companion thread- ‘What are people doing to make more money in this economy’?

And of course, if you’re already shopping at Aldi, and not eating out, where do you go from there?

Try and be less wasteful of what you eat. Keep leftovers. Buy less expensive items (beans instead of meat, dried beans instead of canned beans), buy on sale (even at Aldi). If you feel there is nothing left you can do in that department, go to a food bank (not being snarky at all, food banks are there for a reason, there is no shame in needing to go, so go if you need).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Threads like this are depressing to me. I'm going to be school poor post-divorce and nearly everything people are listing as things they are cutting...are things that I already do. Admittedly they got us to a great financial place before it literally became unsafe for me to stay married.

That’s because there are only so many things one can do to cut costs. You still gotta eat, even if someone switches from Harris Teeter to Aldi. We need a companion thread- ‘What are people doing to make more money in this economy’?

And of course, if you’re already shopping at Aldi, and not eating out, where do you go from there?

Try and be less wasteful of what you eat. Keep leftovers. Buy less expensive items (beans instead of meat, dried beans instead of canned beans), buy on sale (even at Aldi). If you feel there is nothing left you can do in that department, go to a food bank (not being snarky at all, food banks are there for a reason, there is no shame in needing to go, so go if you need).

Another option is sign up for Too Good to Go. You can get bakery and other items for free or next to nothing at the end of the day at a bunch of different participating restaurants and grocery stores, as long as you are fine taking what they give you.

You can get stuff from Whole Foods, various coffee/bakery shops, fast casual places, etc. None of it is spoiled, but they don't sell stuff that's a bit stale. It's all at least a 75% discount to retail, but again, some are like 90% off or completely free.

[Anonymous]

We just do take out and dont tip instead of shit down

[Anonymous]

Cancelled my SiriusXM subscription, a Patreon membership, my tanning package and a monthly wellness patch thing. Small items, but it adds up to about $110 a month

[Anonymous]

I mow my lawn and do the weeding+ fertilizing treatments, which is equivalent to $6000.